Aided by the Coachella Valley Golf & Water Task Force and turf removal rebates from the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), courses in the Palm Springs region are completing another year of business as unusual. The grant program – offering applicants $15,000 per acre of turf removal at a maximum of seven acres – saw 18 Valley courses apply for rebates in 2015 and another four receive additional or newly awarded rebates for removal this year.

At 27-hole Desert Princess Country Club in Cathedral City, the maximum rebates at that public course have been utilized the past two years, with the club removing 20 acres of turf and replacing it with a desertscape aesthetic.

“In a nutshell, obviously California is in a water pinch and the state and agencies are asking us to reduce water,” said Desert Princess superintendent Jonas Conlan. “And, as a result of the reductions, there is some grant money available and that’s what we’ve focused on here – to try and take advantage of the programs out there to assist our club to reduce water usage and set ourselves up for the next 10 years to maintain a nice property and still meet these usage restrictions.”

In short time, Princess players have adjusted to the alterations.

“I think the initial, let’s say shock, was a bit of a change. But as it’s gone on, I think the homeowners, in large part, are very understanding of the situation and have been very receptive to it,” Conlan said. “Everybody realizes we’re in some sort of a drought. From the golfers, the feedback has been very positive, and people enjoy the look; and as it matures and fills in with different colors and textures between grass and landscape areas, it makes for a very nice look, in my opinion.”

The initial Princess project focused on turf that might be in play, but this year’s work took out nearly 13 acres in the wash area, with only an acre or two removed in play areas that were overseeded previously.

Removing turf at courses in the Coachella Valley and across the Southland has resulted in an unexpected source of pride at certain venues.

“In our area, it’s starting to take off in a way that I don’t think many foresaw,” said Stu Rowland, director of golf operations at Rancho La Quinta Country Club and past president of the Hi-Lo Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. “It’s the same thing that happened in L.A., where it was one thing to do it (turf removal) because you were getting a rebate, but once people started doing it the work became something of a bragging point. … It’s become an interesting twist on the whole thing.”

“You can put in lush, drought-tolerant plant material that looks great, flowers, put mulch around it and you don’t have a ‘desert course’ but rather an enhanced, visually landscaped area,” he said. “And people are starting to see these as enhancements, thinking it looks really goodand not affecting playability.”

Among the most proactive in turf reduction is Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert, where CVWD rebates have also been used the past two years, predated by a foresight going back to 2009.

“Prior to the restrictions, we had probably been in the process longer than any course in the Valley. And that’s something that Ironwood can be very proud of,” said course superintendent Mark Cupit. “When we looked at this seven years ago, I did some calculations and, at the time, I came up with every acre of turf grass that we eliminated saving about $5,800 off of my budget.”

Home to 36 holes of Desmond Muirhead-designed play, Ironwood’s work has focused on its South Course, with architect John Fought overseeing the project.

“When Ironwood was built back in the 1970s we had about 250 acres of irrigated turf grass across both golf courses,” Cupit said. “Last year on our South Course we took out 13 acres of turf. Then, this past summer, we just finished up taking out another 10.5 acres, which also included two lakes.”

Maintaining water reduction, a solvent business model and player satisfaction is part of the delicate dance in course changes, and spending money to save money while keeping a Palm Springs-centric look is also part of the equation.

“I think you’ll see the transformations continue,” Conlan said. “There will be some courses that go in the direction of the ‘Scottsdale’ look. But it’s going to cost some money, so it may be a slow process. But people are realizing that the costs of water are affecting how courses are being managed, and you might not be able to throw water across 200-plus acres of turf.”

Ironwood’s Cupit said members were initially concerned about plans but are now embracing the work.

“They didn’t want to create something you might typically see in Arizona, with 80 acres of what some see as target golf,” he said. “The members wanted to maintain the integrity of the golf course, and when we brought John Fought here as the architect, that was his No. 1 goal – to remove turf and maintain playability.”

Arid conditions will likely keep regional course leaders swimming in a new norm of water mandates and restrictions as the calendar flips to a new year.

“Typically when the government takes something away from you or makes you do something new, they usually never take those away,” Rowland said. “They think that if you live with it you can probably live with it forever.”